Americas – Bean-to-bar and Chocolatier Competition, 2019

The 2019 Americas – Bean-to-Bar and Chocolatier Competition brings together bean-to-bar chocolate bars and chocolatier products from North, South and Central America to celebrate innovation and excellence in fine chocolate, including the USA – home of the micro-batch craft chocolate movement and the Latin and Caribbean countries that grow fine cacao.

The Americas – Bean-to-Bar and Chocolatier Competition includes standard and micro-batch categories for plain/origin chocolate bars and all other chocolatier categories – flavoured bars, filled chocolates/bonbons and spreads. This includes all Americas countries and regions, except Canadian chocolatier products, which are judged at the Canadian Chocolatier competition in September 2019. Canadian bean-to-bar flavoured bars will be judged alongside plain/origin chocolate bars in the Americas competition.

New categories recognised for 2019

For 2019 we’re introducing a more flexible category system recognising the many developments and innovations chocolate makers and chocolate companies are creating in the craft chocolate world. From this year, you will enter each of your products using a more simple questionnaire-type form and we will then assign your products into a main category, such as plain/origin or micro-batch bars or flavoured dark bars with inclusions.

You will also have the chance to tell us in more detail about your product and its production, for example if special ingredients or special processing have been used. Prizes will be awarded in the main categories as usual, but we will also recognise innovations, different styles and the sourcing of ingredients. Examples would include the use of alternate sugars or milks, high % bars, different theobromas (other than theobroma cacao), own-produced cocoa butter, flavors ground-in while making chocolate, or special criteria such as the use of local flavor ingredients, ‘biome’ ingredients (from the cacao source) and more certification types such as labelled vegan products. The new system will let us recognise multiple criteria for each products that don’t fit into a rigid category system. All prizes are at the discretion of the Grand Jury based on the scores awarded in the main judging round.

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Open to all entrants with their main office or headquarters in North, South and Central America, for all categories.

Canadian companies may only enter plain/origin and flavoured bar entries in the Americas competition. The Canadian Chocolatier Competition for chocolatier products – flavoured bars made with couverture, filled chocolates and spreads, will take place in Toronto in September 2019. (Only one registration fee will be charged for companies entering both competitions).